Somebody's Gotta Do It. When Halloween came to my door

As I wave and smile, at the door of my house, to the last of the Halloween trick-or-treaters. I can't help thinking that I'm going to sleep well tonight. I close the door and breathe a sigh of relief. It's been a hectic evening.

The consistent doorbell ring. My attempts to feign surprise at the latest Halloween costumes. The handing out of sweets to appease my riff-raff visitors. It's a pleasant nights entertainment but one thing does irk me. Lipreading is an important part of my communication and I don't understand what is being said. Have you ever tried to lipread Jason from Friday 13th? Michael Myers from the film Halloween? Pennywise from IT? It's a daunting task as they all wear masks or makeup and this brings up some puzzling questions for me. Do I tell them that I have a Cochlear Implant? Do I tell them that my communication methods are a combination of hearing and lipreading?

Having slept on it. I have now decided that I will create a local 'Accessible Trick-or-Treating' campaign. This will focus on tips on how to make a Halloween costume more accessible to lip-readers. I will promote this to the local press and dress up as Barney. After all, he is everybody's favourite purple dinosaur and practically impossible to lipread.

I mean.. let's face it.... somebody's gotta do it...